Guilty Pleas in Burglary of Dozens of Firearms from Maryland Pawn Shop

Friday, March 7, 2025

WASHINGTON – Vincent Lee Alston, 23, of Washington D.C. and Niquan Odum, 23, pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in connection with the December 2023 burglary of 34 firearms from a Maryland pawn shop.

            The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., ATF Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood of the Washington Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department

            Alston, aka “Vedo,” pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit firearms trafficking. Odumn, aka “Stickz,” pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit theft from a firearms licensee and to possession of stolen firearms. U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson scheduled a sentencing hearing for Alston on June 27, 2025 and for Odumn on June 13, 2025. Alston was arrested on December 15, 2023, and has been detained since. Odumn was arrested on March 25, 2024, and has been detained since.

            Co-conspirator Juwon Markel Anderson, aka “Peezy,” 22, of Washington D.C., pleaded guilty on March 4 to conspiracy to commit firearms trafficking. Others charged in the conspiracy are Cy’Juan Hemsley, 18, of District Heights, Maryland, and Tyjuan McNeal, 28, of Washington, D.C.

            According to the court documents, on December 13, 2023, the co-conspirators drove from Washington, D.C. to the A&D Pawn Shop, a Federal Firearms Licensee, in Glen Burnie, Maryland. At the pawn shop, one of the co-conspirators used a portable saw to cut the locks on a pull-down security gate. Another co-conspirator then used a crowbar-type tool to pry open the main door. Once inside, the quintet grabbed an array of rifles, shotguns, and pistols from the shelves and display racks and fled with at least 34 of the firearms. The co-conspirators later used social media to advertise the sale of the stolen firearms.  Two days after the burglary, on December 15, 2023, Alston was arrested with one of the stolen firearms.

            This case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Metropolitan Police Department, with assistance from the ATF Baltimore Field Division. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shehzad Akhtar and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Lipes.